Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1887-04-28

Still the style of Cuba has sadly waned of
late, and the Cuban millionaire is no longer
Ivulu at American watering places The
soil of Cuba is as rich as any in the world,
but the Cubans are poor. Sugar and tobacco
have been the islands chief source of profit
for years, and the manufacture of beet sugar
has so reduced the price Of cane sugar that
the most of the sugar estates of Cuba are now
running at a loss 1t takes lots of money
to run a sugar estate, and there are
some in Cuba | am told which cost
as much as $200,000a a year. When it is re-
membered that some OF these estates are from
500 to 10000 acres in extent, it will be seen
that this not improbable The taxes how
ever, keep on all the same, and Cuban taxa
ton is reduced to a science. They would tax
the air here if they could get any adequate
measure by which to regulate it. They do
tax everything else. The steamer Mascotte,
which carries the mail to the United States,
has to pay tax of $500 every time it enters
the harbor at Havana. Travellers are taxed
81 apiece upon their passports, and this hotel
in which | write this letter, after paying a
number of hundred dollars for the privilege
of doing business, is taxed five cents for each
name on its register, and it has to put
revenue stamp of that amount opposite
each name. This is a new tax, and the
landlord Of this hotel did not at first
observe it. The omission was discovered and
he was fined $500. The cab drivers pay
heavy tax, and the boatmen who land pas
sengers in the harbor have to buy q license.
Small retail stores pay $500 year, and as
their business increases they pay more Each
tradesman is taxed a certain amount for
every letter on his sign, and clerks must pay
215 per cent. of their quarterly salaries. The
thousand miles of railway in Havana are
taxed 10 per cent. of all the freight and pas
sage money they receive, and every citizen
of Havana has to pay IS year for a docu-
ment of identification or passport for home
USE These are but a few items of taxation
of which l have heard. Is it any wonder
that the native Cubans hate Spain and that
the prices of everything are extravagantly
high!
Speaking of the Cubans, the population
here is succotash of native Cubans or Gre
oles, negroes, Chinese and Spaniards. The
Spaniards are the ruling and in general the
business class. The creoles are the revolu-
tionists, and the Chinese, negroes and some OF
the creoles the laborers. There are about
100000 negroes in Cuba, 10000 Chinese, and
the remainder are Spaniards and creoles.
The negroes are far different from the Amer
lean negro in that they seem to have no life
or joyousness about them. They look ugly
and sad Some of the weather. of them
rank very well. Some of these are seen
riding in cabs and putting on as much style
as the head waiter of Saratoga hotel. The
Chinese Of Cuba are of the lowest grade.
They are the offspring of the coolies, and they
frequently intermarry with negroes. They
have Chinese market in Havana and a Chi
nese theatre. l attended the latter and sat
for an hour listening to concert which re-
minded me of an army Of cats engaged in
midnight battle.